Blue Damsel

Pomacentrus coelestis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth3–22 m
Water temperature18–30 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and June
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Pomacentrus coelestis, the neon damselfish, is a species of damselfish in the family Pomacentridae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific. It can grow to a maximum size of 9 centimetres (3.5 in) in length. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pomacentrus coelestis”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 166 records
February: 519 records
March: 695 records
April: 825 records
May: 461 records
June: 538 records
July: 483 records
August: 314 records
September: 316 records
October: 396 records
November: 222 records
December: 212 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–22 m · Deepest record: 53 m

0–10 m: 1,397 records
10–20 m: 1,067 records
20–30 m: 466 records
30–40 m: 8 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–30 °C

18–20 °C: 2 records
20–22 °C: 15 records
22–24 °C: 11 records
24–26 °C: 88 records
26–28 °C: 44 records
28–30 °C: 209 records

Photos

(c) Bernard DUPONT, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Blue Damsel, blue damselfish, Common Blue Damsel, Neon Damsel, Neon Damselfish

Names in 7 more languages

German: Neon-Demoiselle
Spanish: Damita Neón
French: Demoiselle céleste, Demoiselle néon
Japanese: Sorasuzumedai, ソラスズメダイ
Korean: 파랑돔
Thai: ปลาสลิดหินนีออนฟ้าหางเหลือง
Simplified Chinese: 厚殼仔, 藍雀鯛, 變色雀鯛, 霓虹雀鯛, 霓虹雀鲷, 青紺仔, 青魚仔

Other scientific names: Pomacentrus coelistis

Similar species

Ocellate Damselfish
Pomacentrus vaiuli
Amboina Damselfish
Pomacentrus amboinensis
Charcoal damsel
Pomacentrus brachialis
Philippine Damsel
Pomacentrus philippinus
Black-edged Damsel
Pomacentrus nigromarginatus
Black-spot Damsel
Pomacentrus stigma

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
8,297 open-data records from 1900 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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